DE 10 2004 011 182 A1 describes a technical solution for laying an electrical cable harness along an aircraft structure that is to be bridged. A beam of the aircraft structure comprises an opening through which the cable harness is to extend. In this arrangement direct contact between the electrical cable harness and the edge region of the opening is to be avoided in order to prevent the electrical cable harness from being chafed, which would be associated with the risk of short-circuits occurring. For this purpose a cable guiding element is provided in the region of the opening. The cable guiding element essentially comprises a V-shaped receiving section for the cable harness. The cable harness is affixed to said receiving section by means of conventional cable ties. For attachment to the aircraft structure the cable guiding element comprises an attachment section by means of which the cable guiding element can be clamped, without the need for separate connecting means such as screws and the like, by way of a clamping effect, to an associated opening adjacent to the above-mentioned recess of the beam.
While with such a cable guiding element damaging contact between the cable harness and the aircraft structure is avoided, in particular in large-body aircraft fuselages the distance between individual beams that extend parallel to each other is, however, so large that such individual cable guiding elements cannot ensure adequate guidance of the cable harness.
From the generally known state of the art therefore a bar-shaped bridging device for cable harnesses to be laid is known, which bridging device additionally guides the cable harness in the region between two beams. Usually such a device comprises several individual cable guiding elements with a conventional receiving section for the cable harness; however, on the attachment section a receiving device for the end of an elongated connecting rod for bridging the aircraft structure is provided. By stringing together individual cable guiding elements with connecting rods a large distance between beams of the aircraft structure can safely be bridged, and the cable harness is reliably guided in this region. This bridging device is affixed to beams of the aircraft structure by way of the two connecting rods situated on the outside, for example by means of a screw-connection arrangement.
The known bridging device for laying a cable harness is associated with a disadvantage in that it involves very considerable installation expenditure. This is because the individual cable guiding elements are usually bonded to the ends of the associated connecting rods. Bonding requires sufficient time for curing, which increases production-related expenditure. Furthermore, additional installation devices are required in order to affix the connecting rods including the cable guiding elements during the curing period in the desired position. Moreover, in the known bonding solution there is a risk of undesirable chafing points forming as a result of cured adhesive residues in the region of the connecting point towards the cable harness.